Archived News:

Wednesday, Feb 20, 2013

bitComposer Entertainment follows up on their recent tease with the announcement of Air Conflicts: Vietnam, confirming suggestions in their teaser trailer that they are crafting a Vietnam era aerial combat game. This game is being developed Games Farm, creators of the previous installments in the series, and it will once again offer an arcadey flight model when it is released for Windows, Linux, OS X, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 in Q3 of this year. Here's word:

Air Conflicts: Vietnam offers the popular combination of flight simulation and arcade gameplay. In the course of the game, the player controls over 20 accurately simulated fighter jets and helicopters from the Vietnam War era. In certain missions, the player has to leave the pilots seat temporarily to operate the guns and defend against attacks. If several fighter jets take part in a mission, the player can equip and upgrade them individually, as well as control the entire squadron. Air Conflicts: Vietnam offers a variety of missions and a compelling story set against the background of one of the best-known and most controversial wars in modern history.

KEY FEATURES

There can’t just be winners in war! Immerse yourself in the compelling and emotional story and experience, alongside heroic moments, the darker side of war.

Experience the Vietnam War, one of the most explosive and violent wars of all time, up close! Witness the experiences of a brave U.S. Air Force pilot and immerse yourself ever deeper in the story thanks to the dramatic musical score.

In addition to fighter jet missions, there are also new, special helicopter missions to complete.

Take control of entire squadrons! Control all of the airplanes in your squadron.

Equip your airplanes and helicopters with realistic weapons! All possible combinations of airplanes (or helicopters) and weapons are based on real models.

A realistic setting combined with arcade gameplay! Every airplane can only be loaded with a limited amount of ammunition. However, you can compensate for this by switching between different airplanes in your squadron.

A game that never gets boring! Play different single-player and innovative multi-player modes.

Choose from a massive arsenal of military machinery! The game includes over 20 different airplanes and helicopters from U.S. and the Russian side.

Jet Set Games announces that Steam now offers the Windows and OS X editions of Highborn, updated versions of their turn-based strategy game that's already available for mobile devices. There's no demo, but the game is on sale for the first week for 25% off. Here's word on the game and the port:

“Many of Jet Set’s employees have a long history of building strategy games for the PC, and it feels great to be developing for this platform again,” said Rade Stojsavljevic, president and co-founder of Jet Set Games. “We chose to bring Highborn to Steam, not only to satisfy our customer’s demands, but also because we knew we could take advantage of the processing power of the PC to really showcase the amazing graphics and improved gameplay that we’ve put into this re-imagined version of Highborn.”

In Highborn, players are treated to two strategy games that combine to offer an intelligent, tactical experience without the frenetic play of a traditional RTS. Players move forces around an overhead map to secure spells and combat support, then dive into 3D combat to deploy those advantages against an unsuspecting enemy. All the fun and fighting is set against an irreverent tale, filled with wacky heroes, witty dialogue and wild assumptions.

A new update 17 is now live in Dungeons & Dragons Online, bringing new content and other enhancements to Turbine's D&D MMORPG. The update is titled "Return to Gianthold," and ties in with the release of a new Ruins of Gianthold Adventure Pack, which is free to VIPs. The Release Notes have all the details on the new version, as well as a birthday giftbox for players: "DDO is turning 7 years old this year, and we're celebrating by giving a gift to all our players! A birthday giftbox will be placed in the inventory of all characters created prior to Update 17. Simply activate the box to open a list of lovely gifts and pick the one you like best!"

Square Enix announces an "early 2014" release date for Murdered: Soul Suspect, an adventure game that tasks players with solving their own murders, which can often make it difficult to interview suspects. The game is coming to Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3, and the official website is online, offering a cinematic trailer to whet our appetites. The game also has a Facebook Page and a Twitter feed.

A tweet by GameStop indicates the CEO of the games retailer got the chance to see Battlefield 4 behind closed doors, saying "Got to see Battlefield 4 today and all I can say is WOW! Thanks @EA for the sneak peek. Can’t wait for you all to see it." This seems like a leak, since a next installment in the shooter series, however inevitable, is not yet announced, but VG247 notes that Electronic Arts is one of the many accounts that have retweeted this, suggesting they are comfortable with this revelation.

The Humble Bundle folks announce Humble Bundle Mojam 2, the second annual Mojang event, will take place starting at noon eastern time today. This involves developer Mojang along with indie friends Grapefrukt; Ludosity; Oxeye Game Studio; Vlambeer; and Wolfire Games, splitting into small teams to create games based on fan suggestions in a marathon 78 hour coding session. These games will then be offered for sale in a new bundle with 100% of the proceeds will go to charity. A livestream of the proceedings will begin at noon on The Humble Indie Bundle website.

OXM has a 13-minute video from Aliens: Crucible, the Aliens RPG in development at Obsidian before the project was cancelled. A clip with some animations from this game surfaced this week, but this clip includes work-in-progress gameplay. Thanks VG247.

I came across something that pointed out that today is "Love Your Pet Day." It's not possible to love anyone more than we love Hudson the wonder dog and the Gunnar-man around here, but it seems like a worthy cause, so I'm willing to put in some extra effort to try and see how it works out.